The Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) was established in 1956, known then as the
Nigerian Building Society (NBS), a joint venture of the Commonwealth Development
Corporation and the Federal and Eastern Governments of Nigeria.
Following the introduction of the Indigenisation Policy, the Federal Government, by
Indigenisation Act 1973, undertook 100 percent ownership acquisition of the NBS and
consequently renamedit the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN).
The Bank operates as an effective vehicle for increasing the mobilisation of long-term funds,
lending volume and expansion of mortgage lending services to all segments of the Nigerian
population.
The FMBN started the management and administration of the contributory savings scheme
known as the National Housing Fund (NHF) established by Act 3 of 1992. The NHF is a
pool that mobilizes long-term funds from Nigerian workers, banks, insurance companies
and the Federal Government to advance loans at soft interest rates to its contributors.
In 1994, the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria, with the promulgation of the FMBN Act 82
[1993] and the Mortgage Institutions Act 53 [1989] was accorded the status of the apex
mortgage institution and thus ceded its retail function to an autonomous company, Federal
Mortgage Finance Limited (FMFL) which was carved out of the FMBN, itself fully owned by the
Federal Government of Nigeria.
Under the reform of the housing sector based on the FGs 2002/2006 National Policy on
Housing and Urban Development, the FMBN was restructured into a Federal
Government-Sponsored Enterprise (FGSE) with more focus on secondary mortgage and capital
market f unctions. It plays the critical role of developing a robust mortgage finance system
for the country. To meet its mandate, the FMBN has shifted operational emphasis to
expand its functions from only social housing on-lending under the NHF to include commercial
on lending for housing, commercial mortgages refinancing, mortgage purchasing and
warehousing and Mortgage-Backed Securitisation.
Under this mandate it finances mortgages created by primary mortgage institutions (PMI) under
the National Housing Fund Scheme and also gives estate development loans (EDL) to real
estate developers.
The banks overall mandate is to promote the delivery of affordable and modern houses to
Nigerians.
